The duo, comprised of writer/vocalist Robert Bolton and multi-instrumentalist/producer Alexander Punzalan Junior, came together via a chance meeting at a screening of the animated science-fiction film A Scanner Darkly. Three digital EPs, one seven-inch vinyl, a 12-inch remix and album-length cassette (talk about a throwback!) later, Times Neue Roman have quickly built a reputation for switching up styles like Beyonce swaps out lace fronts.

“The tradition in rap is obvious but from that foundation, we’ll go anywhere,” explains the duo. “We play live with non-rap acts as much as with rap acts. And we’re comfortable with that. Genre-violence is a good thing.” Indeed, as their latest single “So Many Females,” injects some head-nodding nostalgia onto a trippy track that wouldn’t sound out of place at a DJ’s mix at Coachella.

Times Neue Roman also bring the same sense of fearlessness when it comes to promotion. For their debut Vehicle, they built a custom a brand new media platform, presenting the album as a digital art object, paying homage to the experience of physically experiencing classically designed album jackets of the past.

‘It turned out to be a very sensual album from start to finish,” recalls the duo. “We didn’t plan that. There’s also a lot of 90s nostalgia in there that wasn’t actually all that deliberate. The album is kind of a requiem for driving music. So we were thinking about the experience riding around in an automobile, either alone or with a friend or lover, playing tunes.”